Kerala announces Kochi As ‘dementia-friendly City’, unveils program to raise awareness

KOCHI Oct 17: Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan has declared the city Kochi as a “Dementia-Friendly City” on October 16, Saturday, while launching the Dementia-Friendly District program, ‘Udbodh’.

This initiative has been taken with a collaboration between Cochin University of Science and Technology’s NeuroScience department, the Ernakulam district administration as well as Kochi Municipal Corporation. This is the program’s initial phase.

During the inaugural ceremony, the CM also unveiled Dementia Clinics and Care Homes. The main objective of this program is to raise public awareness of dementia’s growing prevalence, to enhance the living conditions of dementia patients, and to provide training to family and caregivers of the patients, bringing them into mainstream society.

To assist Dementia patients, this initiative will include free psychiatric therapy, legal assistance, clinical facilities, and daycare facilities. Psychological counselling, as well as legal guidance, will be provided to the patients through an application. At the District Hospital’s Dementia Clinic, medical services are provided free of cost.

Furthermore, as a part of the initiative, it was planned to establish old age-friendly units in all major hospitals around all districts. At the sub-district level, geriatric health centres are also active. In addition, special training programs have been established to offer care to inpatients who require long-term care as well as the aged citizens who suffer from illnesses like dementia. For the aged, ‘day homes’ and ‘evening homes’ are also set up. Following these efforts, the Kochi Corporation has launched the Dementia Friendly Kochi program. Further, a day home for dementia sufferers is being built inside Kochi Municipality’s boundaries.

With the cooperation of the district government, this initiative will further expand to municipalities and panchayats in the Greater Kochi area for the next phase. The program’s third phase seeks to create Ernakulam a dementia-friendly district by extending it into the entire district.

Citing CM Pinarayi Vijayan, ANI reported during the ceremony, “It is the moral duty of the government to protect old age people after devoting a good part of their lives for the betterment of the country. The view of the old age people is an important indicator of the development of each region. That is why Kerala has placed special emphasis on geriatric care.” CM went on to say that Besides the broad implementation of the government’s initiatives for Dementia patients, there was even a desire to offer special attention to the society’s poorer sectors.

Additionally, Dementia cannot be termed as a proper disease but rather a general word for a loss of capacity to recall, comprehend, or make judgments that affect daily tasks. The most prevalent kind of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease. Dementia is not a natural aspect of ageing, even though it primarily affects older people.